What is the difference between an induction motor and a permanent magnet motor?

Dec 31, 2018

One of the most common electric motor used in most applications which is known as induction motor. This motor is also called as asynchronous motor because it runs at a speed less than its synchronous speed.

Here we need to define what is synchronous speed. Synchronous speed is the speed of rotation of the magnetic field or simply r.m.f [rotating magnetic field] in a rotary machine and it depends upon the frequency and no. of poles in the machine. An induction motor always runs at a speed less than synchronous speed because the rotating magnetic field which is produced in the stator will generate flux in the rotor which will make the rotor to rotate, but due to the lagging of flux current in the rotor with flux current in the stator, the rotor will never reach to its rotating magnetic field speed i.e. the synchronous speed.

If it obtains its synchronous speed the rotor will be blocked and this would never be happened.

Permanent magnet ac (PMAC) motors, has functionalities that partially overlap with those of both ac induction and servomotors for larger, higher-end applications requiring precisely metered torque, speed, or positioning.

In PMACs, magnets mounted on or embedded in the rotor couple with the motor's current-induced, internal magnetic fields generated by electrical input to the stator. More specifically, the rotor itself contains permanent magnets, which are either surface-mounted to the rotor lamination stack or embedded within the rotor laminations. As in common ac induction motors, electrical power is supplied through the stator windings.

Permanent-magnet fields are, by definition, constant and not subject to failure, except in extreme cases of magnet abuse and demagnetization by overheating. PMAC, PM synchronous, and brushless ac are synonymous terms.

The magnets in permanent-magnet motors

Rare-earth elements are those 30 metals found in the periodic table’s oft-omitted long center two rows; they’re used in many modern applications. Magnets made of rare-earth metals are particularly powerful alloys with crystalline structures that have high magnetic anistropy — which means that they readily align in one direction, and resist it in others.

Discovered in the 1940s and identified in 1966, rare-earth magnets are one-third to two times more powerful than traditional ferrite magnets — generating fields up to 1.4 Teslas in some cases.

Permanent magnets are used in MRI machines, portable electronic devices, hysteresis clutches, accelerometers, and — last but not least —permanent-magnet rotary and linear motors.